When Clayton Kershaw gives up a five-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning to lose a playoff game, you start getting the feeling anything is possible.

But seriously, USC?

Leave it to the Trojans on one of the craziest days ever in college football and one of the most painful weekends in Los Angeles sports history to place a shiny red cherry on top of a most dubious cake.

And leave it to a long snapper, of all things, to play a significant role in one of the great USC choke jobs of all time.

Has the world gone mad, or what?

With a chance to move up in the national rankings, keep their perfect Pac-12 record intact and leave all their objectives within reach, the Trojans fell apart over the final three minutes of the fourth quarter Saturday against Arizona State.

The Trojans played to about the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter, and then completely forgot about anything the knew about closing out a football game.

“You learn the hard way,” Sarkisian said.

In the Trojans’ case, you lose the hard way.

The lasting image will forever be former Taft High quarterback Mike Bercovici scrambling to his right and hoisting a Hail Mary pass that miraculously avoided every USC defender in the vicinity to fall perfectly into the waiting arms of Jaelen Strong for a 46-yard Arizona State touchdown as time expired and a 38-34 victory.

In the blink of an eye, the Trojans world turned upside down.

“A split-second decision. I saw the open, I threw a Hail Mary and just put him in position,” Bercovici said. “And somehow it worked out.”

That will be the image we remember.

The reality is this game was squandered well before Bercovici eluded USC’s pass rush to find Strong streaking down the field for the winning touchdown.

Done in by USC’s inability to put the Sun Devils away because of too many dropped passes, too many missed open wide receivers, a failure to run clock, sloppy penalties, terrible situational defense and the concussion suffered by long snapper Zach Smith, which left USC hesitant to use its normal punt scheme and instead rely on quarterback Cody Kessler to quick kick it most of the night.

The significance of that?

Instead of pinning Arizona State deep in its own territory with a normal punt with 23 seconds remaining and holding 34-32 lead, the Trojans set the Sun Devils up their manageable 28-yard-line to begin the fateful final drive.

“Leaves us stinging with a sick feeling in our gut,” said a despondent Sarkisian.

And almost speechless trying to make sense of it all.

USC led 34-25 with 2:57 remaining and the Sun Devils had no timeouts, having exhausted all of theirs with their own peculiar clock management earlier in the half.

Yet somehow the Trojans let the Sun Devils climb back in, the big blow coming when Bercovici found Cameron Smith along the sideline for a 73-yard touchdown to make it 34-32.

Even then, things looked promising when Arizona State couldn’t come up with an onside kick and USC took over with 2:43 remaining.

And not a care in the world about Arizona State stopping the clock.

But the Trojans went nowhere on three running plays, and had to punt with 23 seconds left.

Enter Kessler and the quick kick, rather than normal punter Kris Albarado after the loss of their long sapper.

“We didn’t feel good with our normal punting game,” Sarkisian said.

Still, with Arizona State set up at its own 28, trailing 34-32, who actually thinks they’ll cover the length of the field for a field goal, let along a touchdown?

Of course, USC’s inability to put the Sun Devils away earlier played a role in its coverage scheme on the final drive.

The Trojans had to simultaneously defend underneath to avoid giving up too many yards and leaving them vulnerable to a last-second field goal, and over the top to protect the end zone.

“We tried to play both, but we didn’t get it done,” Sarkisian said.

Bercovici just kept believing.

“Just make a play. Make something happen,” he said.

In front of him, tackle Jamil Douglas and the rest of the Arizona State offensive line just wanted to give him enough time to get a throw off.

“We know what he’s capable of, and we know what kind of receiver Jaelen is,” Douglas said. “Just give them time. Block. Give them time and let them make a play.”

For USC, it wasn’t just a gut-wrenching loss.

It was a tremendous missed opportunity.

Everywhere you looked Saturday, a top-10 team was falling. From Alabama to Texas A&M to Oklahoma, one giant after another came tumbling down.

Whatever you thought about the peak of the college football mountain, no matter who you believed belonged or who didn’t, we were all reaching for the re-set button by the end of a zany day.

Every channel you turned to, a memorable performance or finish was unfolding on football fields across the nation.

Stars were emerging. Cases were being made and statements emphatically delivered.

And then there were the Trojans.

Presented with an opportunity to deliver their own argument, they failed in the most remarkable way imaginable.

“We didn’t get it done at the end,” Sarkisian said.

You suppose when Kershaw can fall apart like he did, nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

Vincent Bonsignore is an NFL columnist for the Southern California News Group. Having covered the Los Angeles sports scene for more than two decades, Bonsignore has emerged as one of the leading voices on the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, the NFL and NFL relocation.

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